Three quick ways to pamper your business

Don’t wait for ‘when you have time’ to give your business some love. Do it right now, in 15 minutes or less.

Working alone, it’s tempting to become so wrapped up ‘in the business’ – delivering our products and services and scraping through the must do’s – that opportunities to work ‘on the business’ can seem elusive.

Like the frazzled parent who craves a week at a health retreat to unwind, solo business owners often crave a major chunk of time for planning, systems, communications and the creation of new offerings. There can be a sense that ‘If I can’t have a solid block of time, I can’t do anything.’

Not true!

It’s the nooks and crannies of time, grasped regularly and often, that make a difference.Here are three ways to pamper your business in 15 minutes or less:

Unsubscribe

Sort your inbox by sender and spend 15 minutes deleting and unsubscribing from any newsletters that you routinely ignore, and which clutter your inbox every few days. Create rules for the newsletters that you do value and send them to unique folders. For the next few weeks, each time unwanted mail arrives, take 10–20 seconds to unsubscribe from the mailing list and watch the barrage of traffic slow.

Pre-schedule social media posts and GO!

Posting on social media is a great way to engage with your clients and prospects, but it can be a rabbit hole of distraction once you’re in there. Spend 15 minutes setting up a social media scheduling tool like Hootsuite or LaterBro, and a website blocker like Leechblock or KeepMeOut, then go to the social media websites themselves and turn off email notifications. Do engage with your clients on social media, but not until the bang for buck tasks are done.

Client survey

How long is it since you checked in with your clients’ needs? Spend 15 minutes drafting a five-minute questionnaire seeking feedback on your products, services, communication and support, and inviting clients to make suggestions for future offerings, or on how you can deliver an even better service. You may like to use a service like SurveyMonkey to collect responses with ease. Consider offering a gift or prize to entice people to participate.

Lavish your business with small bursts of targeted daily action and enjoy an evolving sense of progress and order, less stress and greater satisfaction in this solo-business gig.